


Twist of Fate

by Tarlan



Category: Harsh Realm
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-30
Updated: 2010-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-14 05:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a twist of fate, Tom completes his mission, but not in time to save the real world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twist of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **smallfandomfest** FEST08

"No!"

Hobbes jumped back just in time as bullets zinged over his head. He could hear the answering retort from Florence and Pinocchio's semi-automatics and risked lifting his head above cover only to draw back fast as bullets ricocheted off the low wall he had crouched behind. He should have known it was a trap and he couldn't help but glance in Mike's direction, suddenly aware that he was more afraid for Mike's life than for his own. Santiago had been more than one step ahead of him ever since his arrival in the crisis simulator game known as _Harsh Realm_. In hindsight, it was obvious now that Santiago had known about all of the soldiers and mercenaries sent in to eliminate him from the game.

Everything was at stake now, and what Tom had never understood from the start was why they could not simply pull the plug on the game. There had to be a _game over_ switch programmed somewhere but Mike had refused to help him find it. Tom knew that part of the reason was because the virtual characters within the game seemed so real. Whether their actions were pre-ordained by some programmer or whether they had taken on new choices and character development via A.I. programming of _if-then_ or _else_ clauses was immaterial. They all acted with real emotions, fears and laughter, and even with genuine love on one memorable occasion. Some, like Florence, did not even have counterparts in the real world and would simply cease to exist if the game was shut down.

Yet it was still just a game. Everyone inside was just bits and bytes of data, including himself, whereas the real world was full of flesh and blood people. People like Sophie, and like Mike.

"Lieutenant Hobbes, you're too late!"

Hobbes recognized the voice as Santiago's.

"It's done. The real world is gone and all that is left is _Harsh Realm_."

"No," he whispered, because how could the real world be gone when this place still existed? Even the smallest data processor needed energy, so something as large as _Harsh Realm_ had to require an extraordinary amount of energy. If the real world was gone then what was supplying the energy?

"I know what you're thinking. You think it's impossible because you believe **we** can only exist if the real world exists. You're wrong. _Harsh Realm_ never ran off the national grid, or off some nuclear reactor. It was built on a thermal vent. Geo-thermal energy harnessed to run _Harsh Realm_ indefinitely...perhaps forever."

Tom looked across the dividing space to where Michael Pinocchio was pressed flat against the wall, his face emotionless. He wondered if Mike even cared that it might all be gone. Certainly Mike had joined him only to help him kill Santiago and for no other reason. He knew Mike never intended to leave _Harsh Realm_ once the job was done and Tom wished the man would open up and tell him why. Yet if Santiago was telling the truth then there was nothing left to go back to now for either of them. Their real bodies were gone; Sophie was gone too, and there was no reset button to bring her back in either world as far as he was aware.

All Tom had left was his mission: kill Santiago.

It was a mission he wanted to see through to the bitter end as this was a man who had stepped beyond the boundaries of decent human behavior to set himself up as a dictator in this virtual world, and possibly the destroyer in his own. If _Harsh Realm_ was all that was left then Tom owed the people in here a chance to make it a better world for everyone who had survived the nuclear holocaust that had kicked off the game--and that meant killing Santiago.

"Doesn't change anything," Tom yelled out, and he saw Mike turn his head towards him, with eyes no longer blank and emotionless but filled with shock. His words must have stunned Santiago too and Tom caught a split second opportunity to take a shot...and watched as Santiago fell backwards with a bullet hole drilled through the center of his forehead.

It was done. Mission accomplished, and yet Tom could find no reason to celebrate. Unless Santiago had lied about the real world, then in strange twist of fate he would never be going home to Sophie. He was trapped here for as long as his programming sustained him. Tom sank back against the wall, letting his gun drop from his numbed fingers, and barely noticed Mike scuttling towards him until Mike reached for him.

"Hobbes? Hobbes? Tom!"

Strong hands shook him and Tom took a deep breath and looked into Mike's concerned face, feeling a wave of something powerful and unnamed course through him. He felt a moment of guilt because his thoughts should have been consumed with the loss of his future with Sophie, or with fear for the future of _Harsh Realm_. They should not have been sidetracked by strange feelings towards a man who had become both his right hand and his best friend over these months while trapped in this virtual world. Straightening, he forced all thoughts aside, concentrating instead on any immediate danger. It didn't take a genius to realize that all he had done by killing Santiago was create a power vacuum that someone else would jump in to fill. There was no guarantee that the next guy would be any better and might actually be a worse dictator, but at least it would not be Santiago.

"We have to get out of here!" Mike stated, eyes darting across the debris field to where Florence was waiting mutely but with concern.

Once the shock had passed, Santiago's men would open fire again, this time seeking revenge for their assassinated leader, but a voice rang out on a loud hailer. Tom recognized the voice immediately even though it seemed impossible, and so did Mike.

"As of this moment, I am in full command of Santiago City and its forces. Everyone will lower their weapons immediately."

"Inga Fossa," Tom murmured, recalling the way the agent had moved between the virtual and real world. He thought she had died when a plague released by Santiago had swept through the parts of _Harsh Realm_ that Santiago intended to annex to his growing empire. Tom should have known better, that dying inside the game did not necessarily mean dying forever, not while there was a living, breathing body in the real world. Perhaps there was a reset button after all. Perhaps Fossa had set all of this up from the start, preparing to take over from Santiago the moment he was eliminated, though Tom didn't really care anymore about Fossa's political machinations. If there was a reset for Fossa then maybe he could bring the virtual Sophie back to life too.

The thought filled him as much with dread as with pleasure. He loved Sophie. He wanted her back, wanted the life they should have lived together...didn't he?

"Lieutenant Hobbes, Corporal Pinocchio. Please stand down. You will not be harmed."

Mike had a strange look in his eyes as he holstered his gun, composed himself, and stood up. Tom hesitated for a second, looking up at Mike in confusion for making such a brave move. It seemed so unlike the man he knew who could be so courageous one moment and seemingly a coward in the next, with his actions determined only by what he had to gain. Except that was not strictly true. Mike had placed himself in danger once or twice just to save him, gaining nothing in return except a continuation of Tom's mission. Or perhaps that was the gain? Except Tom recalled how he'd had to convince Mike to help him kill Santiago in the first place. Confused, Tom pushed to his feet beside Mike, only taking another breath when no shots were fired. Florence joined them, standing at his shoulder, strong and proud while they waited to see what would happen next. Inga Fossa stepped forward, flanked by several higher ranks of the Republican Army.

She nodded to them...and smiled warmly at Mike.

****

Tom did not see Inga Fossa again for three days but he felt the effect of her new leadership immediately as territories outside of Santiago's control aligned to the new government led by Fossa. Throughout those days, Mike stayed close but Florence disappeared to treat the injured, using the healing skills given to her by her creator.

"I'm not sure how to address you now," Tom stated softly.

"Inga will do." Her eyes drifted across to Mike as she smiled but Tom knew there was history between them within _Harsh Realm_ , that she had been Mike's virtual wife for a time when Mike worked for Santiago.

Tom looked at her curiously. "You know, what I could never understand is why you didn't kill him yourself. You had plenty of opportunities."

"He had a hold over me that wasn't broken until I...died."

"Which brings me to how come you're still alive? And if you can come back then--"

"Ruby Goldman. I survived because I had a programmer in the real world who could bring me back. But she's gone now, like all the rest."

"What about her virtual counter--"

"No. One of the stipulations was that none of the programmers could exist inside _Harsh Realm_ in case they altered the programming, or were coerced into altering it to someone else's advantage. Obviously, that happened, with a renegade group giving Santiago the power he needed to take control. But others influenced it in subtle ways too, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot more back doors or 'oracles' scattered through _Harsh Realm_."

"Then Sophie--"

"I'm sorry but she's gone."

Tom could see the compassion in her eyes and knew she was telling the truth. His last glimmer of hope for a life with Sophie faded and he turned away. He had lived with the possibility of never seeing Sophie again for so long that it almost seemed a relief to finally say goodbye to her, if only inside his own mind. _Harsh Realm_ had changed him more than any of his previous tours of duty or missions. It had forced him to reassess everything he knew was true about the world and about himself, as if it was he who had survived the nuclear explosion that day in virtual New York and been reborn.

Mike was standing by the door, looking pensive, and Tom brushed past him. At the last moment, though, Tom reached out and squeezed Mike's arm in reassurance, just to let him know that he wasn't planning to do anything rash or stupid.

For the first time he felt a certain amount of freedom from knowing the old rules had gone and that there was nothing tying him to duty in this virtual world. Governor Fossa--Inga--had already offered him a position in the new military that she was forming, even sweetening the deal, but these past months of thinking for himself and making his own decisions out in the field had left him feeling independent. He was a free man who no longer had to take orders from anyone, and the thought of going back to the life of a common soldier left him feeling cold.

Unlike Santiago who had promoted himself from sergeant to general, Tom's unusual promotion leap to full colonel was sanctioned by the new government and military, mirroring the confirmation of Mike's promotion to lieutenant colonel by Governor Fossa. It was just another reason why everything felt so weird and so wrong at the same time. Skipping grades at school was one thing but jumping several ranks made him feel like a fraud. Despite all he had been through, he didn't feel like he deserved to jump from a lieutenant to a colonel.

As he made his way out of the building commandeered by the newly formed government, Tom was surprised to find Mike only a few feet behind him. He turned, confused, because Mike had once worked for Santiago and Inga had offered him his military position back along with the confirmation of the promotion given to him by Santiago. Originally, Mike had faked his own death to get away from Santiago purely because he could not stomach the cruelty of the dictator any longer, but it was different now.

So many rules had been twisted by Santiago and many more purposefully broken, but the new government was sweeping the worst of the new and old laws aside. Overall, the changes seemed to be for the best, as if someone had deliberately set out a new constitution in readiness that would take into account everything that was important in this brave new world, and discard all the rest. There was no longer a reason for Mike to leave Santiago City.

"You're following me," Tom stated.

Mike shrugged and took a few more steps forward.

"I'm not staying," Tom added, because he wanted to make it perfectly clear that he had no intention of being part of this new military or government even if he had nothing against either. He simply wanted the chance to go out and help others in a different way. He wanted to explore _Harsh Realm_ and find other glitches in the program like the Oracle in New York.

Mike smiled wryly. "I know. Neither am I."

"Why? What about Inga?"

"What about her?"

"She's your ex-wife."

"Emphasis on the EX." Mike held up a hand before Tom could speak again. "We used each other. I'm not denying I loved her but...not in the boy meets girl falls in love kind of way." Mike cleared his throat and looked away. "I don't do the...boy loves girl thing." He looked back, straight into Tom's eyes, as if willing Tom to get his meaning. "If that's a problem, just say so now."

Something in Mike's words and in his eyes seemed to break down the last wall in Tom's heart and mind and he felt his stomach flutter in response. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he liked the feeling, aware that it wasn't something entirely new but rather something that had been growing for months between them. Filled with uncertainty, nevertheless he reached out and touched Mike's face, feeling the tingle of pleasure race from his fingertips to his stomach, curling warm in his belly and setting his heart beating faster.

With ever growing conviction that he was finally understanding how he felt about Mike, and how Mike felt about him in return, Tom smiled and leaned in. He pressed his lips against Mike's softly before pulling back, heart hammering in his chest as if he had started a suicide run.

"No...It's not a problem at all," he whispered harshly, feeling the fear rush out of him when Mike lifted fingers to brush across his mouth before smiling warmly.

Many months ago in the real world, Tom thought the future was promising him a happy, domestic life on a series of nondescript army bases with the woman he loved, its passage marked only by the times when they would be parted by his duty to his country. It had seemed a good enough life to contemplate back then. Today the future was offering him none of the security of the past, and yet as he dropped into the passenger seat, looking across as Mike took the wheel and gunned the engine, he realized that it was offering him so much more. It was offering him the chance to explore a whole new world, in every sense, with a man who had become far more to him than just a comrade-in-arms.

As the car headed away from Santiago City into the wilderness of a post-apocalyptic America, Tom knew he was right where he wanted to be.

END

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